Disneyland Recap

 If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've seen most of these pictures already. Sorry for the repeat, but there's just too much cuteness not to share here too!

Last Tuesday, Ayden and Rylee got to experience their first airplane ride on the way to Disneyland.

Very excited to board that plane!

He really wanted to help with the luggage.

The first night we were there, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and window shopping. Their mind was blown and they were in toddler heaven with all the stuffed animals!

He was soooo excited and couldn't decide which was his favorite! (He was looking at more stuffed animals)

Day 1: California Adventure

Getting ready to start the day with their cousins!

Doc McStuffins was the very first character we got to see!

One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was going to the Disney Junior Live show. It was so much fun watching how excited Ayden and Rylee (and all the other little kids) got. Seeing them clapping and jumping up and down dancing actually brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing to experience the joy that this brought them!

Waiting for the show to start.

Mickey Mouse!

Our first family picture of the trip.

Day 2: Disneyland

This trip was made possible for us because Tony's parents are amazing. They took us, along with Tony's brother and family, to Disneyland with them to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

Grandma Faffy and Grandpa C with their grandkids.

Ayden was able to go on a lot of the big kid rides because he (just barely) made the 40" height requirement. Poor Rylee fell a couple inches short of that. Fortunately, she's still young enough that she didn't know what she was missing out on. While most everyone in our group went on one ride, someone always stayed back and took Rylee on something else. She definitely still had fun, just missed out going on a few of the bigger rides. No matter what ride we went on, big or small, both Ayden and Rylee ALWAYS asked to do it again!

Waiting to go on the Star Wars ride.

Tony and Ayden on Splash Mountain. Tony was terrified of Ayden falling out because they weren't buckled in on that ride!

Getting to meet Minnie Mouse in person was a MUST for Rylee, otherwise she may very well have disowned us and moved out of the house. She was sooooo excited to see Minnie Mouse!

Day 3: California Adventure

We lucked out right at the beginning of the day, being in the right place at the right time to meet Donald, Daisy, and Pluto. Rylee repeatedly said she wanted to "pet Pluto" the day before, so she was super excited that she got her chance! She even got to pull on his whiskers, and Ayden and Rylee both got to honk his nose. lol

While we all had a super fabulous time, it did not come without meltdowns. Is it even possible to take a toddler to Disneyland without a meltdown? Ha! Actually, Rylee did pretty good for the most part, but Ayden had a hard time when it came time to get off a ride. He wanted to go again, not get off! He didn't understand that we had to take turns with other people. If  he was on a ride or meeting a character, he was perfectly fine and having fun. But any other time, he was usually whining or crying about something or other. Combine being on the go and lack of sleep with all the excitement of Disneyland, and it made for a cranky toddler.

He had been completely bent over with his arms dangling down, but I missed getting that perfect shot of this meltdown. It was actually pretty funny.

My absolute favorite part of the entire trip was meeting Anna and Elsa! We almost didn't do it, but I'm so glad we did because Ayden and Rylee's reactions made it so worth waiting in line for! Rylee was so nervous and excited that she could hardly contain herself. She was completely star-struck and didn't want me to put her down. Tony caught the very start of our visit with Anna and Elsa on video, which I'm sharing below. Ayden was beyond adorable, encouraging Rylee to go forward and meet the princesses. And then he was a little shy and bashful himself! I can hardly handle how cute they were!

Anna told Rylee they were twins, wearing the same dress!

Rylee asked Elsa where her gloves were. Esla said she didn't need them anymore!

We had such a great time. Tony and I feel beyond lucky that we got to experience taking our own kids to Disneyland. To witness the magic of it all through them is pretty much the best thing ever. I'm so incredibly grateful to my in-laws for making this trip possible, because there's no way we could have afforded it otherwise. At least not right now.

When we got home and I was unpacking, I found a little surprise in Tony's suitcase. Apparently one of the kids (I suspect Ayden) loaded the front pockets with dinosaurs and trucks! We had no idea these had made the trip with us! Hahaha!